A variety of creativity centers or drawing aids or devices have been proposed for use by users, especially children, to paint, draw, or engage in other creative activities. It is common to include a planar surface or board to which the user can directly apply decorations or creations or on which the child can place a sheet of paper or other medium on which to apply decorations or creations.
Some proposed drawing devices include multiple drawing surfaces that can be selectively disposed in a position in which the user can work on a selected surface. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,845 to Blassingame discloses a visual aid device that includes a frame into which can be placed a flat, two-sided board. The board can be placed in the frame with either side facing outwardly for use. To reverse the board surface, the board must be slid free from the frame, reversed, and slid back into the frame. U.S. Pat. No. 1,958,579 to Johnson discloses a blackboard device with multiple blackboard panel hinged about a common vertical axis. A user can draw on one side of a hinged panel, then rotate the panel 180.degree. about the axis so that its opposite surface is presented, then draw on the opposite surface.
It is desirable to be able to erase or otherwise remove the user's work from the drawing surface, and suitable erasing for the various media (chalk, pencil, marker, etc.) are known. It is preferable that the drawing device include an erasing mechanism that is coupled to the drawing device so that it is not separated and lost and that facilitates easy use by the user. Several proposed drawing devices include such erasing mechanisms. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2.359,195 to Berliner discloses an erasable writing pad in which images can be drawn by pressing a transparent top film onto a black wax surface. A parting member disposed between the film and the wax surface can be slid along the length of the pad to separate the sheet from the wax, erasing the image. The film and wax surface are mounted together for sliding movement in a frame, and the parting member is fixed to the frame, so that when the film and wax surface are slid outwardly from the frame, the parting member separates the film from the wax surface.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 3,838,520 to Quenot discloses an eraser built into a sketch pad located on the side of a tape measure. The sketch pad includes an outer sheet, a backing sheet and an intermediate sheet that are configured such that when pressure is applied against the outer sheet, the backing and intermediate sheets adhere to each other and leave a visible trace. The eraser is formed as a strip 40 located between the backing sheet and the intermediate sheet to separate the backing and intermediate sheets as they are drawn past the eraser strip 40 and to thereby remove any markings on the sheets.
Another example, in which the erasing mechanism is moved with respect to a fixed drawing surface, rather than moving the drawing surface with respect to a fixed erasing mechanism as in Berliner and Quenot, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,167,296 to Farmer. A movable part 18 is mounted for linear movement with respect to a fixed chalk board 6. The movable part includes erasers mounted to bear against the surface of the chalk board. When the movable part is moved across the surface of the chalk board, any markings on the board are erased.
Drawing devices have also been proposed than include storage for drawing implements (markers, pens, etc.), such as in a compartment that is covered by a drawing board and is accessible by moving the drawing board away from the compartment. One example is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,284,445 to Dietterich.
The drawing devices described above suffer from several shortcomings. Although the devices of Blassingame and Johnson provide two-sided boards on which a user can draw, Blassingame's board is separate from its supporting structure and can therefore become separated and lost, and Johnson's board requires a support structure at least twice the size of the drawing board, since the board is pivoted about a centrally-mounted hinge. The hinged board of Johnson is movable only by pivoting, and the board of Blassingame is movable only by sliding. The devices of Berliner and Quenot include useful erasing devices, but do not include two-sided boards. These devices lack the storage compartment of Dietterich, which in turn lacks a two-sided board and an erasing mechanism.